Tuesday, January 27, 2009

This past frigid weekend brought a couple BTTers up to Derry, New Hampshire for the Boston Prep 16 miler. Now, talking from experience, these "in between" races (ie. races between half marathon and marathon distance) can be really, really tough. And, apparently that was the case here as BTT veterans Joe Kurtz and Jeff Aronis, who tackled the difficult course, can attest. Joe Kurtz writes:

As for the race, it is probably the hardest road race > 13 miles I have ever done. On the website they write 'moderately challenging', but everyone I talked to beforehand who had done the race previously looked at me in the same why I now look at people doing their first IM. It is somewhere between "You'll love it" and "You poor bastard." The profile is pretty nasty, and luckily someone told me that miles 9-13 were the 'tough ones.' So, my initial goal was to hold 7:00/mile pace for the day (you know, feel good at the end, etc), and including my standard 2:00 bathroom break in the middle (literally at the mile 8 marker), i ended up holding 7:15/mile for the day. But that is a bit misleading, as I ranged from 6:15 pace to close to 8:00, depending on the stage. And even though the weather was cold (9 degrees at start, -1 with wind chill), the sun was out, the aid stations were obviously set up and run by runners (who knew warm gatorade could ever taste good!), and if I was prepping for Boston, I would leave with so much confidence about the race, knowing that nothing on the marathon course is nearly that tough. Throw in the fact that they gave some good shwag (zippered long sleeve Coolmax shirt, and a nice running head band when you finished) and I'd definitely do it again, if only to be the one to give the "Poor bastard" face to someone else.

Don't worry Joe...these are the races that will carry you in LP! Officially, Joe finished with a time of 1:56:50. His partner in crime, Jeff Aronis, finished with a time of 2:10:40. Great job fellas!

Also, here's a quick shoutout to local pro and triathlon legend, Karen Smyers, who was recently inducted into the triathlon hall of fame. For those that know Karen, she's one of the most approachable and friendly people out there. Slowtwitch recently interviewed Karen which can be found HERE. Congrats Karen!

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Since we didn't have any results from last weekend (mostly due to snow), and there's nothing to "review", I thought we'd do a preview of the coming week. This coming weekend looks to have good weather, so I don't expect any snow-outs. The race that I expect to find the most BTT color is the Boston Prep 16 Miler in Derry, New Hampshire on Sunday. This is a great training event for those doing LP, Boston, etc. This weekend also brings us the first winter triathlon of the season (run, mtb, ski), which is being held at Gunstock in Gilford, New Hampshire, also on Sunday. This week's SGR brings us to Meg MacSwan's in Brighton. This will give BTTers a good opportunity to train on the hills of the marathon course.

Other upcoming events include the Great Stew Chase 15k and the Team Psycho TT, which are being held next weekend. If you're looking for something different, Channel Multisport will be holding another winter triathlon in Weston on February 7th. If you're not sure you can perform all of the events, then team up with another BTTer. This year's triathlon includes relay teams. Also, there are some snowshoe races taking place in the NE region. Check out Coolrunning for more details.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Announcing the BTT portion of the Cyclops Power Indoor Time Trial Series. This is a three part series along with the Team Psycho TT on Feb 1st and the New England Multi-sport Expo TT on March 21/22. The more of these three events you enter, the bigger chance you will have to win the overall raffle prize... a Power Tap SL Hub System! More information and links to register at: This Link

While most of us are dealing with the frigid conditions of New England, newbie BTTer Kate Blumberg visited Mickey, Minnie and Goofy (literally) in Orlando, Florida and ran the Disney World Half Marathon. Congrats to Kate, not only for posting a solid 1:43:52...and finishing 13th in her AG, but for also being the first BTTer to race in 2009. Here's Kate's account of her day:

It's 3:15am on Saturday, January 10th, and my alarm is going off in my room at the Disney All Star Sports Resort. I jumped out of bed (more like rolled to the floor in exhaustion) and got ready to head out to the buses that would take me to the start of the 2009 Walt Disney World Half Marathon. I arrived at the Epcot parking lot around 4:15am and made my way over to the athlete area. After finding my friend, Betty, who was participating in the Goofy Challenge (running the half on Saturday and the full on Sunday), we made a few bathroom trips, dropped off our bags and headed to the start. It was a long walk to the start, and her and I were in the first corral of the first wave. This meant that we were starting our race at 5:50am and had a much longer walk than most,passing all 10 corrals to make our way right up to the start line. The cool thing about being right up front was that we got a great view of Mickey, Minnie and a bunch of other Disney characters getting the race under way. At 5:50am, the fireworks went off and the race began. Since I was still recovering from qualifying in Philadelphia and working off those holiday pounds, I knew this wouldn't be a PR race for me. I stuck with the 1:45 Cliff Pacer and his group for most of the race. We made our way out onto World Drive and on to the back side of the Magic Kingdom. The race takes you through all of the Magic Kingdom, including running through Cinderella's Castle. On the other side of Magic Kingdom, I took a Gu Roctane...this stuff is like crack. It woke me up more than regular Gu and gave me that extra push to speed things up and make it to the finish. Upon leaving Magic Kingdom, the race route makes its way back to Epcot with a few "hills" (exit ramps). Somewhere on these hills, I decided to leave the 1:45 pace group and step it up a notch for the last three miles. The route winds itself through FutureWorld in Epcot and back out into the parking lot, where the finish line is. I finished in 1:43:52, with a nice healthy sprint at the end. The race itself had almost 12,434 finishers and I finished 509th overall...out of 7,181 Females, I finished 92nd. My main goal, however,was to break the top 10 in my age group. Last year, I came in 11th.This year, I finished 13th out of 1,041. My time was about 8 minutes faster than last year, but I was up against a lot more speedy 30-34females this year. I guess I'll just have to work harder and try to beat 'em all next year!!

Wednesday, January 14th. Chris Li, of the Bikeway Source, provided instruction for over an hour and a half to 12 participants of varying ability including first-timers and skiers with several years of experience.

Brave BTTers faced harsh temperatures in the low teens to attend this successful clinic. By the end of the evening, everyone was still smiling and zipping around the partially lit course. In attendance were EC members and clinic organizers Pat Dwyer and Laurie Damianos, Maggie O'Toole, Alan White, Kathy (KC) Connolly, Austin Whitman, Matt Pokress, Jay Higginbottom, Meghan Kilroy, Jeff Aronis, Trish Kelly, and friend of BTTer Doug Fuller.

We plan to hold a second clinic next weekend during daylight hours. Stay tuned for details.